The online (or Internet) dating service industry has grown significantly in recent years. ComScore Media Medtrix has provided recent user information for a number of the larger personals/dating web-sites (there are over 200 on-line dating sites), as follows:
Number of Unique Users (as ofWeb-siteJuly 2002)Match.com5,665,000Yahoo! Personals4,412,000Date.com2,295,000Matchmaker.com1,522,000Someonelikesyou.com1,237,000Dreammates.com983,000In addition, a recent Jupiter Research study stated that more than 34 million people have visited online personal ad sites, and that the average user spends 13 hours a month on such sites.
Despite its growth, the online dating/personals industry continues to be plagued by the problem of users either misrepresenting themselves (e.g., as younger, more attractive (via outdated pictures or through misrepresentation of height/weight), more successful, etc.), or concealing important information (e.g., a criminal record, a drug or alcohol addiction, sexually transmitted diseases, a marriage, etc.). As of Dec. 11, 2002, there have been over 17,900 online dating horror stories, and some have ended tragically.
Accordingly, a need exists for a support system and method for online dating that provides participants with the security of knowing that participants are representing themselves accurately, and further that potentially harmful information is fully disclosed. The system and method needs to provide a convenient vehicle for persons to submit information and to provide the online dating support service with the needed permission and information to conduct a further background examination. The present invention satisfies these needs and provides other, related advantages.